Why These 10 Stocks Are Trending on Friday

Published October 29, 2021 at 4:41 pm EDT Updated September 7, 2026 at 1:05 pm EDT

In this article we will take a look at the some of notable stocks trending today.

Near the end of the trading week, the broader markets are relatively unchanged with the Dow up 0.06% and the S&P 500 down 0.01%. The NASDAQ 100 is up 0.1%. Among the stocks in the spotlight include United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X), eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), and Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX). Let’s find out why each stock is trending and how elite funds are positioned among them.

Why do we care about hedge fund activity? Insider Monkey’s research was able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 86 percentage points since March 2017. Between March 2017 and July 2021 our monthly newsletter’s stock picks returned 186.1%, vs. 100.1% for the SPY. Our stock picks outperformed the market by 86 percentage points (see the details here). That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to. You can subscribe to our free newsletter on our homepage to receive our stories in your inbox.

10. Apple Inc. fell 1.8% after the company reported a sales miss for the September quarter due to larger than expected supply headwinds. For Q4, the company earned $1.24 per share, in line with the consensus. Apple’s sales of $83.36 billion missed the average estimate of $84.85 billion, however. Due to the decline, Apple Inc. is no longer the most valuable tech company in the world, with fellow computing giant Microsoft taking the top spot. Billionaire Warren Buffett owned substantial shares of Apple Inc. at the end of June.

9. Amazon.com, Inc. fell 2.15% after the company reported Q3 EPS of $6.12 on sales of $110.8 billion, versus the consensus of $8.92 and $111.6 billion. Amazon.com, Inc. also sees fourth quarter revenue of between $130 billion to $140 billion versus the average estimate of $142.05 billion. Q3 AWS net revenue grew to $16.11 billion versus $11.6 billion in the same quarter in the prior year. Billionaire Jeff Bezos owned substantial shares of Amazon.com, Inc. at the end of June.

8. Chevron Corporation rallied 1.2% after the company reported adjusted EPS of $2.96 for the third quarter versus the consensus of $2.21. Sales for the oil giant were also ahead of estimates at $43 billion for the period versus the consensus of $40.52 billion. Chevron Corporation’s results benefited from improved market conditions and strong operational performance. Of the around 873 elite funds in our database, 50 owned shares of Chevron Corporation at the end of June.

7. Exxon Mobil Corporation rose slightly on Friday after the company reported its biggest adjusted quarterly profit since 2014 at $1.58 per share. Exxon Mobil’s Q3 adjusted earnings were also ahead of the average estimate of $1.56 per share.
Exxon Mobil Corporation CEO Darren Woods said, “All three of our core businesses generated positive earnings during the quarter, with strong operations and cost control, as well as increased realizations and improved demand for fuels.” 68 funds in our database of around 873 elite funds were long Exxon Mobil Corporation at the end of Q2.

6. Starbucks Corporation fell 6.3% after its sales missed estimates for the fourth quarter. For Q4, Starbucks Corporation reported revenue of $8.1 billion versus the consensus of $8.21 billion. Adjusted EPS for the quarter was $1 versus the consensus of $0.99. Ken Fisher‘s Fisher Asset Management owned more than 8.33 million shares of Starbucks Corporation at the end of September.

Like Apple Inc., Amazon.com, Inc., Chevron Corporation, Exxon Mobil Corporation, and Starbucks Corporation, United States Steel Corporation and eBay Inc. are trending.

5. United States Steel Corporation is up 12.7% after the company said it earned an adjusted $5.36 per share for the third quarter on revenues of $5.96 billion. Analysts were expecting adjusted earnings of $4.85 per share on revenue of $5.79 billion, instead. United States Steel Corporation CEO David Burritt said, “Our balance sheet has been transformed and the cash flow generation of the business has us highly confident in our ability to pre-fund organic growth investments that will expand our existing competitive advantages.” 39 elite funds in our database were long United States Steel Corporation at the end of Q2, up from 22 at the end of Q1.

4. eBay Inc. rose around 6% as sentiment around the stock improved. Recently, Edward Yruma of KeyBanc also upped his price target to $90 from $80 for eBay Inc.. Shares of the e-commerce company are up almost 49% year to date. 39 elite funds were long eBay Inc. at the end of June.

3. Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) is down 3.65% despite reporting adjusted EPS of $2.65 and sales of $7.4 billion versus the consensus of $1.74 and $6.25 billion for Q3. Given the decline, the market apparently had higher expectations than analysts. 54 funds in our database were long Gilead Sciences, Inc. at the end of Q2.

2. Momentive Global Inc. (NASDAQ:MNTV) fell 8% despite the company agreeing to sell to Zendesk. With the decline, the market isn’t as optimistic as management on the potential success of the merger. The number of elite funds in our database long Momentive Global Inc. fell to 28 at the end of Q2 from 32 at the end of Q1.

1. Zendesk, Inc. (NYSE:ZEN) fell 14.4% after the company agreed to acquire Momentive Global, which is the parent of SurveyMonkey. Although the merger could generate substantial value if it succeeds, it could also end up slowing growth if it fails. At Q2’s end, a total of 52 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long Zendesk, Inc..